148 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



guard of awkward riders pass. I at once ranged 

 myself, I confess it, among the latter, for it was all 

 I could do to keep my saddle 011 such ground, and 

 while going at such a headlong pace. The horse 

 my friend had lent me for the occasion was, to listen 

 to him, as gentle as a lamb it may be so ; but it 

 had too much the nature of the sheep of Panurge, 

 for, seeing the others leap, it constantly wished to 

 leap too. 



' I had, it is true, before my eyes, to encourage 

 me, the example of a fat farmer, who, in spite of his 

 weight, appeared to fear nothing. He bounded on 

 his saddle in a fearful manner at each leap his horse 

 attempted, and then, like a mountain upheaved by 

 an earthquake, he invariably fell on his base. 

 Though distanced by the vanguard of hunters, I 

 followed the chase sufficiently close to notice the 

 principal details. I saw the hounds run up a hill ; 

 their tongues, which floated in the breeze like red 

 rags, announced at the same time fatigue, ardour, 

 and a thirst for blood. All at once they stopped ; 

 the movement of their tails betrayed the anxiety 

 of having lost the fox. The huntsman, after con- 

 sulting the wind, slightly changed the direction of 

 the pack, which brought it back towards me. At 

 the moment when the men were leaping over the 

 obstacles they had cleared just before, I distinctly 

 saw in the distance one of the sportsmen fall from 

 his horse while leaping a ditch, and as I did not see 



